Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing, the Beginning of the Two Sisters' Broken Bond

Star Luo Empire, outer palace grounds.

Zhu Clan, main hall.

An elegant woman sat in the seat of honor, her gaze deep as she looked at the little girl before her. Her tone was flat as she said, "Do you understand?"

Hearing the woman's words, the little girl was silent for a moment before looking up at the elegant woman with unwilling eyes.

"Mother, isn't it enough that I go alone? Why must my little sister be part of this marriage alliance too?" The girl's voice was filled with confusion and doubt. She couldn't understand why her mother insisted on dragging her younger sister into a marriage with the royal Dai Clan.

"Zhuyun, the Zhu Clan and the Dai Clan have been closely tied since ancient times, with a tradition of marriage alliances. As my daughters, you and Zhuqing are destined to marry the princes of the royal Dai Clan—and only them. This is the fate of our Zhu Clan."

Indeed, the elegant woman speaking was none other than the Zhu Clan head and the Star Luo Empress, Zhu Yeqing—the biological mother of Zhu Zhuqing and Zhu Zhuyun.

Zhu Zhuyun couldn't understand why the Zhu Clan had to be bound to the royal family through marriage. Even if it was called fate, marrying someone she had never met before... She had no emotional foundation with them at all, and dragging her little sister into it made her deeply unwilling.

In Zhu Zhuyun's heart, aside from her mother before her, her little sister Zhu Zhuqing was everything. Yet she had no choice but to obey her mother's words.

"Zhuyun, I know this is hard for you, but this is the fate of our Zhu Clan. If we refuse to carry it, the Zhu Clan will lose its reason to exist. We would lose everything we have now, and in the end, become nothing but slaves to the Dai Clan. The Zhu Clan we have today was built by generation after generation of our ancestors. I cannot let the clan fall apart in my hands."

"As the elder sister, I hope you can shoulder the responsibility that falls to you. Do you understand?"

Zhu Zhuyun fell silent. She was ten years old, three years older than Zhu Zhuqing. As the elder sister, she was the primary heir to the Zhu Clan leadership. She understood all too well how brutal the competition within the royal family was, which was exactly why she didn't want her little sister involved.

At this moment, she hated the royal family. She hated Dai Lumao (the Star Luo Emperor). She hated Dai Mubai. If the royal family had only one prince, she could bear everything herself and let her little sister choose her own life.

But the reality before her made one thing clear: if she and her sister both married into the Dai Clan, then according to royal rules, only one of them could survive.

And when Zhu Zhuyun thought of her gentle-natured little sister, her heart ached. She remembered that her mother's own younger sister had been killed by her mother's hand...

So she made a decision. She couldn't let her little sister just wait to die!

"I understand, Mother. Then Zhuyun will take her leave."

With Zhu Yeqing's nod, Zhu Zhuyun left the main hall. After leaving, she went straight to Zhu Zhuqing's back garden.

At that moment, Zhu Zhuqing was lying in a hanging chair. When she saw Zhu Zhuyun, her little face immediately lit up with a joyful smile.

"Big Sister, you're here! Zhuqing missed you so much!"

With that, Zhu Zhuqing ran toward Zhu Zhuyun. But the sister who was always gentle with her didn't open her arms to embrace her as usual. Instead, she roughly shoved Zhu Zhuqing away.

"Ouch!"

Zhu Zhuqing fell hard on her bottom. Rubbing her sore backside, she looked up at Zhu Zhuyun with a hurt expression. "Big Sister, you hurt Zhuqing."

Seeing this, Zhu Zhuyun's heart twisted in pain, but she had no choice. Taking a deep breath, she said coldly, "From today on, I am no longer your sister. To be precise, I never considered you my little sister at all."

Hearing Zhu Zhuyun's merciless tone and icy gaze, Zhu Zhuqing couldn't believe it. She couldn't accept that the sister who had always doted on her would say such things.

"Big Sister, you're joking with me, right? But this joke isn't funny at all." Zhu Zhuqing's eyes reddened, and the sight made Zhu Zhuyun's heart ache unbearably.

"Heh, you're too naive, little sister. From the moment you were born, I never saw you as my sister. I even wished you were dead. Do you know why? If it weren't for you, I would have become the next empress of the empire without any obstacles, and the heir to the Zhu Clan headship."

"But then you were born, which meant I was no longer the only one. So I hated you. I wanted you dead. But because of the royal rules, I couldn't kill you outright. So I treated you well, spoiled you, and played the role of your loving big sister all along! My goal was to test your potential. And now I have my answer—you are no threat to me at all!"

At this moment, Zhu Zhuyun's face twisted with malice, filling Zhu Zhuqing's little face with disbelief and fear.

Zhu Zhuyun walked step by step toward Zhu Zhuqing and said coldly, "So I'm done pretending to be the sister you believed in! My foolish little sister!"

In an instant, Zhu Zhuyun's hand clamped around Zhu Zhuqing's throat. Slowly, she lifted the little girl entirely off the ground. At ten years old, Zhu Zhuqing was already a Rank 19 Spirit Master—dealing with a little girl who had only awakened her martial soul less than two years ago was far too easy.

Zhu Zhuqing's eyes were still filled with disbelief. It wasn't until her breathing grew labored and her vision blurred that she finally understood—the sister who had once doted on her truly wanted to kill her!

Her struggling movements slowly slackened. At that moment, she cried. She was heartbroken. The sister she had loved most, the sister who had loved her most—it had all been a lie...

A flicker of reluctance passed through Zhu Zhuyun's eyes. She didn't want to do this either. But if she didn't, her beloved little sister would only be waiting to die!

The next second, she let go. Zhu Zhuqing fell to the ground, her little face pale as she coughed. Zhu Zhuyun said coldly, "Giving up just like that? How boring. You're not even worth killing now. Heh!"

With a look of contempt, Zhu Zhuyun turned and walked away. Just as she was about to step through the doorway, she looked back and spoke coldly once more.

"It hurts, doesn't it? You can't believe it, can you? But this is reality!"

"My foolish little sister, hate me. Loathe me. Then live with the determination to kill me. Until the day you are worthy to stand before me! On that day, I will kill you with my own hands!"

"Just like Mother killed her own little sister!"

With those words, Zhu Zhuyun's figure disappeared through the doorway. At that moment, Zhu Zhuqing could no longer hold back. Tears streamed down her face without stopping. She didn't know what she was crying for, or why she was crying.

All she knew was that the tears wouldn't stop...

Outside the door, listening to Zhu Zhuqing's sobs, Zhu Zhuyun's own tears fell uncontrollably. An ordinary door, in that moment, became an endless abyss, separating the two of them forever.

"Little sister, carry this hatred. Grow strong."